H.S. football notebook: Whalers' trainer plays important role

The hero of the game for New London in its win over Ledyard was not only quarterback Ackee Barber, who hobbled on to the field in the second half and led the Whalers to their only touchdown of the game. The man who was partially responsible for that score was the Whaler’s trainer, Dr. Tyler Page, of Groton....

The Bulletin

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Posted Nov. 12, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 12, 2012 at 12:04 PM

Posted Nov. 12, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 12, 2012 at 12:04 PM

The hero of the game for New London in its win over Ledyard was not only quarterback Ackee Barber, who hobbled on to the field in the second half and led the Whalers to their only touchdown of the game. The man who was partially responsible for that score was the Whaler’s trainer, Dr. Tyler Page, of Groton.

New London coach Duane Maranda said Page contacted the Whalers about two months ago after reading in The Bulletin that New London had no athletic trainer after Lawrence and Memorial Hospital had canceled its program.

“He has an athletic background and offered to come up and see our kids and he’s just been phenomenal,” Maranda said.

But at no time was he more important than on Friday when Barber went down in practice with complications resulting from a hip pointer. Barber had to be carried from the field and couldn’t walk, much less run, after the bone in his hip separated because of a fluid buildup.

Barber called Page at 6:30 p.m. Friday night and the doctor immediately came over and worked with him. Page used ice and an ice bath to reduce the swelling and got Barber walking, although “not walking well” according to Maranda.

“I couldn’t sleep at 11 p.m. Friday night and I texted him and told him, ‘I didn’t know what to do.’ He came over my house at 11 p.m. and started working with me and told me (I was going to be) playing (Saturday),” Barber said.

Page also worked with Barber prior to the team leaving New London. Still, when Barber got to the field after an uncomfortable bus ride, he “didn’t feel right.” Barber told his coaching staff that he couldn’t do it and when Maranda asked him to take a three-step drop, he tried and fell.

Maranda determined that Barber was not going to play and Barber took off his uniform. That lasted until midway through the second quarter when Barber couldn’t take what was happening on the field as his Whalers sputtered without him at the helm.

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“I just kept thinking, ‘I have to play on this field,’ ” Barber said.

He went down below the varsity field, threw and ran, came back up and told Page that he was ready.

“He told me to go get my pads,” Barber said.

With 8 minutes, 23 seconds left in the third quarter, Barber stepped on the field.

“When Ackee came out, that changed the whole momentum,” New London receiver Sammy Miranda said. “The speed of the game went up and the team respects Ackee so much for that.”

It also had a fairy-tale ending when Barber hit Jose Garcia for what proved to be the game-winning score.

“(Barber’s) a warrior and when he walked on to that field, you could just feel the energy from the crowd and everybody, he just inspired us (Saturday),” Maranda said.

Senior Night

After the celebration, the handshakes and the post-game speech from Montville coach Tanner Grove, offensive/defensive lineman Jake Basilica sat on the logo at the center of the Indians’ field and took a moment to reflect.

It finally hit the senior that Friday was the last time he would play on his home field.

“It is really, really emotional — unbelievably emotional,” Basilica said. “It is my last time at the ‘M,’ last time at Montville, and it is kind of sinking in that I will never play here again. It started to hit me when I had my parents walk me out, but I was kind of in football mode, but now that it is all over and I can kind of step back and see everything, it is definitely this moment right now.”

Basilica was one of nine seniors most likely playing their final home game at Montville High School.

“Should we play after Thanksgiving, it will probably be on the road, so this was the last time they will probably play here, so it was special tonight,” Grove said. “This is a small group of seniors, but they have been through thick and thin. They’ve played with some of the best teams we’ve had, so they’ve seen what it is all about. When they were freshmen, we played in the state title game — they all stood on the sideline and froze their butts off — so they saw this coming, and I’m real proud to be associated with that group.”

What separates Basilica from his senior teammates, though, is that he started all four years on both sides of the ball for Montville, only missing time last season. He’s played nearly 40 games in an Indians uniform, making an impact on both sides of the ball and providing leadership in the locker room.

“He’s been a joy to coach,” Grove said of Basilica. “It’s obvious when he walks through the door — everybody assumes that I have to like him because he is enormous, but he is a really fun person. He has a great personality and he is charming and endearing. I spent four years with this kid every day in the fall and in the summer four or fives days a week we work out together. That bond is huge, and I know it is going to be his time to go away and further his football career and get educated (in college), but we are going to miss him — we are going to miss him a hell of a lot. We want to try to have as much fun and enjoy the time that we do have before that day comes.”

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Bowl bound

Hyde-Woodstock will send its students home on Friday for the Thanksgiving break, but the football team will be sticking around. Hyde-Woodstock coach Sean Saucier received a pleasant phone call Sunday morning notifying the coach that his team will be making its first ever prep school bowl game appearance on Saturday.

The Wolfpack will play St. Luke's at noon at Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford.

“The school's only been an existence for about 14 years and we've never gotten a postseason birth, so this was a first-time thing for our school, so it is incredibly exciting for our school, our kids,” Saucier said. “I've already gotten contacts from alumni, past players and parents and everyone is pretty pumped about it.”

Hyde-Woodstock finished a 7-1 campaign on Saturday with a 55-28 victory over Hyde-Bath (Maine). Jay Watkins rushed for 312 yards and five touchdowns.

Saucier said the team will hold a formal dinner on Friday to celebrate the accomplishment. Saucier said he saw some potential in the Wolfpack last season when they went winless, but never could've imagine such a drastic turnaround.

“I knew I had a core group of juniors last year who were going to try and do something different this year and they did,” Saucier said. “Dating back to last winter, they started thinking about this year with things like weight-training and preseason. They just set a tone and a lot of people stepped in line and followed their lead.”

Old reliable

Stonington wing Jay Nieuwenhuis cautions when the Bears’ double-wing offense is compared to an “old blanket” that is comfortable and always nearby when they need it.

“It’s not an old blanket because it produces different results every play,” Nieuwenhuis said. “The double-wing offense is a very fast, compact, smart offense. We love it, know it like the back of our hand and can execute it.”

Unlike previous games, the Bears came out in the double-wing and rarely strayed from it against Plainfield on Friday night because of the results it produced.

“We ran the double-wing (Friday) more than we have in any game all season by far, not even close,” Stonington coach A.J. Massengale said. “We were far less balanced than we have been all season. It was kind of a game-plan thing, because we knew (Plainfield) was going to be working hard on the things that we have been doing more consistently this year.”

Plainfield coach Pat Smith wasn’t surprised by the strategy. He had seen Stonington come out and pass against Montville, but when that first-half strategy failed, the Bears went back to the double-wing and almost rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit. But while the Panthers weren’t surprised by it, they also could do little to stop it.

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“We saw them run it last week and they were right back to where they were,” Smith said. “They’re very comfortable running it and they do it well. They got on the edge on us and once they did that, with their speed, we’re in trouble.”